Pro-European party in Montenegro ahead

Accordingly, the party of ex-Finance Minister Spajic came to 26 percent. He plans to form a “pro-European government”.

According to forecasts, the early parliamentary elections in Montenegro will see a victory for the recently founded movement “Europe Now!” away. The Opinion Research Center for the Democratic Transition put ex-Finance Minister Milojko Spajic’s group at 26 percent based on all the votes counted. The alliance, led by the Democratic Party of Socialists, which has been in power for decades, received 23 percent.

The unofficial results were based on forecasts by pollsters and random samples from individual polling stations. The electoral commission is expected to announce the official result in the coming days.

Difficult negotiations expected

Should the forecasts come true, “Europe Now!” did not get enough votes on Sunday to form a government on their own. Observers expect difficult coalition talks. “Tomorrow is a new day,” said Spajic, the boss of “Europe Now!”. “We will not be arrogant and we will sit down with anyone who shares our values. We will of course form a new pro-European government.”

In contrast to previous elections, the focus of the election campaign was not on whether the country should move towards the EU or move closer to Russia and Serbia. Instead, it was all about the economy and living standards.

Around 542,000 people were entitled to vote on Sunday. Candidates from 15 parties who are decidedly pro-Western or pro-Serbian and pro-Russian ran for election. The turnout was around 56 percent – the lowest turnout since the Balkan state gained independence from Serbia in 2006.